Joe Biden vs. Hillary Clinton 2016? 'Yes, There's A Chance,' Vice President Says

Vice President Joe Biden is not ruling out a run for president in 2016 if former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton enters the race, he told “Good Morning America” on Wednesday. Biden said he has until the summer to decide whether to mount a campaign.

“Yes, there’s a chance. But I haven’t made my mind up about that. We got a lot of work to do between now and then, there’s plenty of time,” Biden told ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos.

The prevailing theory has been that Biden won’t run if Clinton does because she would be a juggernaut and soak up all the money and support needed to win the nomination. Biden, who previously sought the presidency in 2008 and 1988, called Clinton “a competent, capable person and a friend.”

“The person who is going to be the next president of the United States is the one who is going to be able to articulate the clearest vision to the American people where they’re going to take the country,” he said. But Biden suggested that he doesn’t believe any candidate on both sides of the political aisle have smooth sailing to the nomination.

“I think this is wide open on both sides,” he said. “Right now my focus is getting implemented what the president talked about last night -- to nail down this recovery and get the middle class back in the game.”

Clinton had a commanding lead among potential 2016 Democratic candidates in a late-December CNN/ORC poll. The former secretary of state polled at 66 percent. No other possible 2016 contender reached double digits. Biden was third at 8 percent, while Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren had 9 percent.